Dead Girl Walking
by Light of the Dawn
Summary: With a rampant contagion spreading across the nations, unlikely allies must unite to overcome the chaos and uncertainty of a dangerous new world in which humanity falls where the dead rise. AU Total Drama in the Walking Dead Universe. Pairings TBD.
1. Suburban Blues

**No, it's not a trick! It's a Halloween treat from your truly!**

**I don't own Total Drama or The Walking Dead.**

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><p>Making his way down the street to their suburban home, he couldn't help sighing with frustration. His wife was increasingly on edge, and he couldn't help the growing temptations of avoidance and evasion when it came to going home after work.<p>

She was so high strung and he was starting to worry that she was slipping back into the way she was before - the way she'd been after their youngest had been born. She'd managed to recover from that, and she'd been good for so long. He'd almost tricked himself into believing that perhaps she'd be that way for good.

But the quality of his home life was getting worse each day. He couldn't blame his daughter for retreating into her room whenever she was home. He couldn't blame his son for his growing addiction to reality television. He didn't blame either of them.

Their mother seemed hell-bent on making both of their lives a living hell.

So lost in his thoughts, he didn't even notice the young man stumble out of a nearby alleyway. The man stood there as he walked by, stumbling after him for a moment before grabbing him from behind.

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><p>Pausing to take a deep breath before he started up the steps of the house he shared with his wife and their two – now teenage – children. The kid had given him a nasty bite but he was hardly concerned. A simple bite wouldn't kill him, no matter how much of his flesh the kid had sunk his teeth into.<p>

After a moment, he made his way inside the house. Taking off his shoes and placing them on the shoe rack, he was startled when he straightened and found his daughter standing in front of him, her blue-grey eyes stretched wide with concern.

"Hey darling," he began before his daughter cut him off.

"I'm so sorry. This never should have happened to you." She said, moving to her father's side and inspecting the bloodied bite-mark where he'd been bitten clean through his shirt. "When I sensed the darkness surrounding our family, I should have warned you."

"Don't worry," her father assured her. "This isn't anything for you to worry over. Now where's your brother?"

"In his room." She answered simply and her father nodded, giving his daughter a quick one-armed hug and a kiss on the forehead before making his way down the hallway to Topher's bedroom.

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><p>A knock on his door went unheard as the geeky guy fiddled with the settings on the DJ program on his computer, his noise-cancelling headphones blocking out all possible distractions. He missed the second knock as well as his name being called. It wasn't until the older brunette woman made her way into the boy's room that he realized someone was here to talk to him and he pulled his headphones off.<p>

"Your father and I have been talking,"

"Not again," The boy said as the woman closed the door behind herself and moved to sit on his bed.

"Yes, again." she said. "You're not doing yourself any favours, Cody. Your brother's off in college trying to make a career for himself and you're here – doing absolutely nothing with your life. Your father wants-"

"This isn't nothing, mom." he replied, irritated. "My videos are _just_ starting to get popular. I'm gonna be famous-"

"Please be realistic." his mother said. "This isn't a real job. It's getting harder and harder to convince your father – if you don't get a job and start doing something with your life, I'm not going to be able to keep convincing him to let you stay here."

"It was slow at first, but I'm making over two hundred dollars a month, mom." he insisted. "There are youtubers out there who make thousands of dollars a month and soon I'll be one of them!"

"Cody, youtube is _not _a real job." she said. "And I can't help you if you won't help yourself. Your _younger_ brother is off studying architecture so he can get a job after he graduates while you sit in your room all day and play games. You need to get a job and you need to get one soon."

Their mouths both set in a thin line, Cody did not respond. Taking this as a victory, his mother stood up and made her way out of his room, closing the door behind her.

Sighing aloud, Cody leaned back in his chair, his head tipped back as he stared up at the ceiling. He got at least two lectures from his mother and one heated argument with his father every week and it had long become tiring. But his parents didn't know what they were talking about. People _could_ get famous and make livings on youtube! They just didn't understand.

Staring up at the white ceiling above him, he ran his fingers through his hair. His life was frustrating beyond belief. His parents had no faith in him and they'd long made it clear that he was _not_ their favourite offspring.

It wasn't until he heard a tap at his bedroom window that he broke out of his trance.

Turning around in his black leather commander chair, he found someone he had certainly not expected to be crouched on the roof on the other side of the glass. Making his way over to the window, he pulled up the window and let his visitor inside.

"'Sup little bro? How's college life?"

"Mom and dad – have they been bitten?"

Cody couldn't help rolling his eyes. "Nope. And I haven't either."

"That's a relief." his brother said, ducking through the window and into his brother's bedroom. "We need to get going – are you any better with the machete I got you?"

"Yeah, definitely." Cody lied, scratching the back of his head awkwardly. "Wait, where are we going?"

"To a safe house." he said. "I was right – it has begun."

"What's begun?" Cody asked, staring at his brother for a moment, stunned.

"The zombie apocalypse." he said. "It's started."

"Shawn, there are no such thing as zombies." Cody said with a frustrated sigh. "I think you need to lay off the weed a bit, bro."

"I'm serious, Cody." Shawn insisted. "I just saw a zombie bite some guy he passed in the street. The apocalypse is starting, and it's starting now!"

"It was probably a robbery or a prank or something." Cody said, before repeating his previous statement. "Zombies aren't real."

Cody turned to go back to his computer when he brother grabbed his arm, turning him back to face him and holding him in place by both arms. "Do you hear yourself right now? Are you trying to get yourself killed?"

"Do you hear _yourself_ right now?" Cody countered, exasperated. "Shawn, you're the best little bro a man could have but you have _got_ to get a hold of yourself. Zombies aren't real."

Shawn frowned. "Well don't you sound like Dad."

"What? No, I-"

"I thought you of all people would understand."

"Shawn, wait-" Cody said as his brother climbed out onto the roof.

"When you realize that I'm right, come find me."

"_I'm not__hing__ like dad_!" Cody yelled, leaning out the window after his brother, only to find the other boy had vanished from sight. "Shawn?"

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><p>Making his way through the front door of the house he shared with his two sisters he took a deep breath. Neither one was going to like what he had to say, but he was certain they'd understand. This was a thing he had to do. For all of them.<p>

As he walked into the kitchen, his twin gave him one look and knew something wasn't right. "You've got something on your mind."

"I've got news." he replied.

Nodding mutely, she pulled up a seat at their kitchen table, gesturing for him to take a seat as well. She was a very misunderstood individual. As much as she did have a temper problem, she did have a soft side. They'd known each other since birth and she knew him better than anyone, and vice versa.

She was a tough, prickly individual and she had few friends, whereas he was friendly and had several, even though most of them were his comrades. No matter how many people he got to know, how close they were to him, his twin sister would always be his best friend.

"Scarlett back from her dad's yet?" he asked, glancing around for their half-sister.

"Her train is delayed; she won't be here until nine." she answered, fixing her dark eyes on her brother. "Brick, start talking."

"Scarlett isn't going to like this,"

His sister looked relieved. "You're being located again?"

"The military is really concerned about this new disease that's been spreading," Brick said. "They're relocating a large portion of the force to near one of the more highly afflicted areas so that if things get out of control and people get violent, we're there to protect the citizens. But Scarlett's not going to-"

"Scarlett's sixteen. It doesn't matter if she's not happy – she doesn't support this family, she doesn't get a say."

"I know, Eva, but I still feel guilty about constantly shifting her around and interrupting her studies. She doesn't have many friends as it is and now she'll have to go and make new ones."

"She'll be okay." his twin assured him. "She's a lot stronger than you think. She just makes a big fuss because she doesn't like having to tear down her lab every time we have to re-locate. Once she gets everything set up again, she'll be fine."

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><p><strong><strong>Comments, questions and constructive criticism is always appreciated so please review.<strong> **


	2. Restless

**I don't own Total Drama or The Walking Dead.**

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><p>She could see the pain across his face as he pulled his shirt off over his head, so she set to work immediately. Gently, she dabbed at the wound with a clean, wet cloth, pulling out the stray strands of cotton that she came across that had been torn from his shirt when the kid had bitten him.<p>

The flesh around the wound was hot and tender, and the dark energy she could feel pulsing through not only her father's wound, but now his entire body, was making her feel increasingly nauseous.

Dipping the cloth into the bowl of warm water, she began to wring it out, taking deep breaths to avoid retching at the sight of the dark blood staining the water and the cloth alike. The way the blood was staining the water, with ribbons of red twisting and swirling through the crystal clear liquid, was making her stomach turn.

Squeezing her eyes closed, she wrung out the cloth once more and continued to dab at the wound to clean it. Beside her, her father was taking deep breaths, trying to nullify the pain of the cloth against his wound.

"I think you should see a doctor." Dawn managed to say as she rinsed the blood off the cloth once more, the once-clean water now stained an off reddish colour. The dark energy pulsing through her father's body was making her start to feel almost disoriented, and the entire situation was becoming increasingly dream-like.

"Don't worry," Her father said, his voice strained. But he didn't continue his thought. Instead, his entire body suddenly slumped forward and in the desperate movement to catch him before his body hit the floor, Dawn lost her cleaning cloth.

"Topher!" Dawn cried out, using her entire body to try and prop her father back up on his chair, but her small stature made it quite nearly impossible. Straining under his weight, she cried out again, this time louder and more desperate. "_Topher_, help!"

The distress in his elder sister's voice was enough to draw out the boy's curiosity and after a moment, he walked into the kitchen with his webcam, trailed by his ginger cat, Chef. "And here we have- oh, shit. What's going on?"

Realizing that this wasn't something fun for his vlog, he set the camera down on the counter – careful to aim it so it caught all of the situation that was currently under way – and grabbed his father's arm, lifting him up and off of his sister with a great deal less effort than his sister had needed to just keep their father off the floor.

"What's going on?" Topher repeated as he noticed the bloody wound on his father's shoulder and positioned his hands further from it.

"Dad was attacked." She explained. "On his way home from work. I think he may have been poisoned-"

"Mrrrdfff-" Their father said suddenly, his body stiffening.

"I think we should call an ambulance-" Dawn began.

"No." Her father said, although he still sounded a bit disoriented. "I don't need an ambulance."

He sat up straighter, this time on his own.

"This needs to be treated, I can sense the dark energy-"

"See Tophites? Prime example of my sister's weirdness. 'Dark energy'." Topher said, now talking into his camera once more. "Dad's bleeding, and all she can talk about is her weirdo magic stuff-"

"_Topher_!" Dawn said, distraught that her brother was not taking the situation seriously.

"What?" Her brother responded with a half-shrug. "Tophites have been asking about your hippy-dippy weirdness, and who am I to deny the people what they want?"

"Dad was _attacked_." Dawn said, her usually-mellow voice strained. "This is serious-"

"Dee, I'm fine." Their father said, taking a wheezy breath.

Topher gestured at the man. "See, he's fine."

"You're not fine." Dawn told her father. "This needs to be treated professionally. Topher, back me up here."

Topher shrugged. "All they'll do at the hospital is clean it and bandage it up, and you're halfway done already."

"I don't think-"

"Dee, leave it. Dad said he's fine." Topher said, before turning back to his camera. "Are all sisters like this, or just mine?"

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><p>"You worry too much." His sister said, shaking her head as he drove them both to the train station to pick up their sister.<p>

"But Eve-"

"No 'buts', Brick. Scarlett's a big girl, and she'll be fine."

Brick swallowed his anxiety – he didn't like displeasing either of his sisters, especially because when provoked, they both had nasty tempers. Scarlett was better at concealing hers, but when she let her temper go, she was a force to be reckoned with as much as Eva was.

The handle of the dark green 1988 eagle premier made a popping sound as Scarlett opened the rear door, and threw her duffel bag inside, before climbing in herself.

"H-hey squirt." Brick greeted, glancing back at his ginger-haired sister.

Scarlett adjusted her glasses before making eye contact with her brother in the rearview mirror. "You're being relocated again, aren't you?"

"Yes," Brick said with a nod, running his thumb over the key in the car's ignition. "How did you guess?"

"It was a matter of logic. The World Health Organization has been putting out alerts for weeks – although I'll admit I underestimated the military's response time."

"And you're not mad?" Brick asked, still watching her reactions in his rearview mirror.

"Quite the contrary. I've been hoping for an opportunity to access samples of the disease. I understand that the government's _most competent_ scientists are working on a cure," She adjusted her glasses in a very condescending manner. "But if we're entirely honest, the government's best is often not a good representation of even average intellect or ability."

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><p><strong>AN: This next segment has a trigger warning due to domestic violence and death.**

"You spiteful little-" her mother sputtered, grabbing one of Dawn's teacups from the table and throwing it onto the floor, the porcelain smashing and the hot green liquid splashing across the hardwood and beginning to soak into the rug.

After their father had regained consciousness, Topher had helped her move him to the couch, but then he'd vanished, presumably to his bedroom to continue filming content for his vlog. An ominous feeling had been hanging over her head since her father had come home from work, and despite having treated his wound, his condition didn't seem to have improved.

To counteract his rising temperature, she'd made him some herbal tea, peppermint to be exact. Peppermint was good for respiratory issues and had fever-lowering qualities, so it should help with his breathing, which had become somewhat laboured. Despite this, Topher and father, when he was lucid, had still insisted that he was just in shock when she suggested seeking medical help.

She'd been pouring the green-tinted liquid into two cups when she heard the front door open. There was a moment of dead silence first, like the silence before something awful occurs – the calm before a storm.

And then everything went to hell.

What had been a calm and collected explanation on Dawn's part was received with hostility and rage on her mother's. She'd been roughly nudged aside and dismissed before her mother began with the accusations.

But Dawn was too distracted by her father's health to pay heed to her mother's words. Leaning over, closer to her father, she put a hand against his forehead. His breathing was even more laboured than it had been only moments before when she'd gone to make tea for them both, and he was burning with fever.

"_Are you listening to me?!_" Her mother shrieked, grabbing a handful of the girl's long blonde hair and wrenching her backwards.

"Ow-ow-" Dawn cried out, her eyes watering as she desperately hoped her mother would release her soon.

"You evil, spiteful little bitch, you're trying to kill him, aren't you?!"

"I would never – I love Dad." Dawn cried. "They said – Dad and Topher said-"

"Don't drag my precious Topher into this, you nasty, vile _cockroach_." Her mother was spitting venom, and Dawn could see in her eyes that she wasn't even trying to grasp at the remnants of her sanity. Topher and Dad were the always the ones who soothed her temper because any response Dawn gave, whether apologetic or argumentative was usually met with increasing intolerance.

"But it's the truth – they both said -" Dawn began, but her mother cut her off with a resounding slap across the face, before shoving her backwards into the coffee table.

"_You nasty, spiteful, vindictive little girl._"

Dawn, having never been physically struck by either of her parents since they'd stopped using spanking as punishment when she was about five, was stunned. Almost falling backwards over the coffee table, she tried to regain her balance, one hand against the tender red welt across her pale flesh. She watched in silence as her mother turned to her father and unbound the bandage that she had been so careful to apply.

But Dawn wasn't focusing on the bandages, she was focusing on something far worse. Her throat tight and her eyes welling up with tears, she dropped to her knees, almost crawling forward to take her father's hand.

While her mother had been screaming at her, her father's increasingly laboured breathing had ceased entirely.

"No," Dawn said, her words catching in her throat.

Her mother rounded on her once more. "_Are you happy now?!_"

"What's all the yelling about?" Topher asked, making his way into the living room with his camera again, but when he saw the scene before him, he lowered his camera in an instant. "What's going on?"

"_Tophie_," Their mother said warmly, her aggression melting from her demeanour in an instant. "Did she do anything to you?"

"Who?" Topher asked, clearly confused. Focusing on his sister, sobbing on her knees next to the couch, his voice took on a seldom heard tone of concern. "Is Dad okay? Dawn?"

Moving to his sister's side, he crouched down and put a hand on her shoulder.

"I can't feel his energy." Dawn whispered.

"Tophie, come here." Their mother commanded, trying to mask the order with a sweet and gentle tone as she held her hand out for her son as though he was a little boy.

Topher glanced over at her and rolled his eyes. "I'm not a kid, mom. Dawn's not going to hurt me."

"You've turned my own son against me too?" Her words were like ice, and sent a chill down both siblings' spines. The rage response was instant, and she began screaming again. She lunged for Dawn's hair, but Topher got to his feet before his mother reached them.

"What's going on? Mom, chill out!"

Dawn stood up too, but almost immediately a wave of nausea and restlessness swept over her and she began trembling so violently that she had to grab onto Topher's sweater to keep herself upright.

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><p><strong><strong>Comments, questions and constructive criticism is always appreciated so please review.<strong> **

**Also, ****r****ea****ders may have some influence over the fates of their favourites, ****so be sure to voice your support of characters you ****want to keep alive ****and it may save them from certain death.**


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